PSYCHOPATH

chapter 11: paper house

Chapter 11: Paper House

~"I burn, consumed; and resurrect, half-slain."~

Vita Sackville-West from 'Solitude'

At nineteen years of age, he rested his head on his father's frail chest. He listened to the slow sluggish heartbeat captured within. Small cell lung cancer left his father thin and decaying, skin gray and body shaking in painful coughing fits every few minutes. Father's nasty cigarette smoking habit finally caught up to him. He sat next to the dying man's bedside and felt nothing. Empty.

Instead, he was curious, his head resting on his father's chest, it was soft and still warm like they described in the books. That night he satisfied his curiosity, carving the chest open until he could hold the bloody organ that was making all the racket inside.

When he showed his mother what he had done, she screamed until his ears went deaf and kept repeating: "What have you done??"

He was calm, collected. "I have been creating art of these things since I was nine. I thought you knew?"

****

She brought her hand up hesitantly and knocked on the door. Once. Twice. Three times. She held the air in her chest, shuffling awkwardly on her feet. Something of both fear and anxiety was accumulating and she tried not to bang again on the door. It was taking too long. Her mind was jumping to conclusions already.

Ella was in the middle of driving home from her classes that day, a day relatively silent in terms of work with the Code Killer case, when her phone went haywire with thousands of texts. Kat was blowing up her cell, insisting she drove over. That she needed help immediately.

Help. Come over now.

I need you. Get to my apartment!

URGENT!

BITCH COME HERE!

The texts progressively got more loud and bold, typed in all caps once Ella didn't text back after the first five minutes. It was reassuring to see Kat texting like she normally did but her brain still managed to conjure up the worse possible scenarios.

The Code Killer got to her. He killed her, he kidnapped her, he was using her to draw me in. He had her phone and was luring me into his trap. Then more rational thoughts...she failed a test and needed support, she wanted to go shopping, she wanted a girls night. After all, it was not the first time Kat pulled something like that, calling Ella and making it seem like her life was in danger when in reality it was her way of getting her to come over.

The wooden door swung open, snapping Ella from her rambling thoughts. She blinked rapidly, stepping back at the abrupt entrance. She was half-expecting to see a tall figure in black. Instead, Kat stood in the doorway. Ella barely had time to check on her friend, to see if she was healthy and unharmed, Kat already leapt forward and snatched Ella's arm in a tight grip.

"Thank god you're here."

Ella was dragged inside the apartment. She was further yanked across Kat's living room and down the hall to her bedroom. Her eyes flitted around as she was forcibly moved. The apartment was a mess. It always was, but even more so in that moment. Clothes and shoes were strewn across the furniture. She had to be careful not to trip over the high heels adorning the hallway's carpet.

"What's going on?" Ella asked in a breathless chuckle.

Kat sent her a look over her shoulder, one of extreme urgency, her jaw locked and her eyes hard. The wary smile on Ella's lips fell. She frowned, sudden fear gripping onto her. Her mouth blurted out, "No one got hurt right? You're okay? What happened?"